The Routine Check
by MuAnimeAngel
Summary: Sheldon is doing a routine check of Amy's computer and makes a discovery. New Story not anyway linked to previous fic. SHAMY
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Big Bang Theory. All credit is given to the creators of the series. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

"Amy," said Sheldon frustratingly staring at her computer. "I understand when Penny's computer has this many cookies for she is limited. But I would expect better from you." Amy groaned from the kitchen where she was preparing them lunch. Section 5 of the Relationship agreement: "Sanctions regarding use of technological equipment used for conversational exchange." Once every three months her computer had to go through a routine system check by her boyfriend. Software needed to be checked for proper functionality, defragmentation needed to take place, virus scans needed to be run and updated, and any other such nonsense Sheldon deemed necessary. The purpose was for two reasons. One was of course that with her and Sheldon connecting for many chats and email exchanges her computer could not possibly become contaminated with a possibly spreadable virus. The second was that Sheldon had made their video chats a part of his routine and a malfunctioning device would preclude them from having those interactions.

"Sheldon," she said, "I have gone over this with you several times. I pay for full virus protections that scan and update automatically. I go to only websites needed for research, check my email, and talk to you. I am not a high risk virus magnet. If I do not clean out cookies it is not the end of the world."

"Yes," said Sheldon nodding, "The system check is still necessary but you do not get cookies from the kind of websites that Howard does."

"Still?" Amy asked, "Even with Bernadette."

"Yes," he replied, "In fact I think the influence is going the other way as I've found a few of them on her computer during the system check they asked me to do six months ago."

"Why doesn't Howard perform his own system check he's a computer genius?" she asked.

"I suppose he believes it occupies me during his dinner parties so that I am not given time to point out how boring they are and also he likes to make his wallpaper pictures he knows will startle me. Still I enjoy the work so much it makes it worth it," he said. Amy smiled back at Sheldon as the thought of organization made him smile.

"Are you ready for lunch?" she asked.

"Soon," he replied, "I just need to get into your email account and see if your trash bin and or sent folder need to be cleaned out." Amy didn't necessary like giving Sheldon access to her email. But his routine checks were scheduled in advance and she could clean out anything she didn't want him to see. Primarily it was emails about drinking with Penny or emails from her mother questioning her choices in boyfriends. They started coming regularly after their video chat about coitus. While the relationship agreement gave him the right to look at her email for efficiency it also forbad him from going in at any time that was not part of the check. Sheldon believed strongly in his agreements so she trusted him to keep to it. Sheldon was happily working through the different folders making sure everything was in order when an interesting email caught his eye in the top of her trash folder. The title of the email was "Hello there."

"Amy," he said pointing at the screen, "You got an email through the dating site that we met through in your trash folder." Amy gave him a curious look while she pouring the Strawberry Quick.

"Yes?" she inquired, "What of it. You can see by its bold color and location in the trash folder that it is of no interest to me. To be honest it's the only email I have gotten from there since we started dating three years ago. I saw it came and barely recognized what it was. Having a strong relationship with you, I deleted it and forgot about it."

"You still have a profile?" he asked.

"Of course," she said, "As do you. The general rule with dating site profiles and couples is that they are deleted by mutual decision or they are left active without any answers to inquires. Yours is still active as I have it as a favorite and you get a notification on that site when favorites are deleted. I barely think about it and as I said receive little correspondence. Therefore, it never has been deleted."

"I still have an active profile since I wasn't the one who created it. I don't have access to turn it off. It was created by Howard and Raj," he said sitting down at the table.

"It was created by Howard and Raj?" she asked sitting across from him, "You mean that you didn't create the profile that I responded to that started our relationship? You didn't seek to find me?" Her tone was that of someone who was hurt and Sheldon was immediately flustered as he realized that they had never discussed that aspect of their beginning.

"No!" he said firmly, "You can be hurt and mad at me another time. I am making a point about you still having a dating profile. I do not approve." Amy sighed deciding to hide yet another hurt away in favor of not having an argument.

"Very well," she said, "I will delete it at your request. I simply ask that you contact Howard and Raj and have yours removed as well."

"Agreed," he said. They both started eating and Sheldon couldn't help finding his eyes glancing over at the computer a few times. A thought ran through his head over and over again. "Amy," he said. "I think I am being silly. You do not need to worry about deleting the profile. I think it should remain. It can be sort of like a constant testament to the beginning of our relationship. Someday when I am a Nobel Prize winner people can study my profile and see what to look for if they wish to date a brilliant mind. They can look at yours and see what you have to be to get a brilliant mind." Amy just stared at him and once again was confused. Her boyfriend confused her relatively regularly.

"Very well," she said, "If you're sure."

"Quite sure," he said happily, "Let's finish eating."


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon sat typing at his computer when Leonard emerged from the hallway.

"Do you want to watch something together Sheldon?" he asked, "If not I'm just going to watch a few walking dead episodes before Penny gets off work."

"I am currently busy working on a project so you may go ahead and watch your pointless Walking Dead reruns," said Sheldon without looking up.

"And just why are they pointless?" he asked, "You like Walking Dead?"

"I like watching Walking Dead if the episode is new to me or to my company. The only thing interesting about Walking Dead is seeing what move the characters are going to make for the first time or discussing it with someone seeing it the first time. The point is to see what they do and who will die because no one is safe. When you watch repeats all you are doing is reminding yourself that yes these groups makes worse plans for a Zombie Apocalypse than I do for a power outage," his friend explained.

"Yes well the only plan you've made for the Zombie Apocalypse is that I can't shoot you," said Leonard shaking his head and loading his DVR.

"That's not true," Sheldon replied, "I've also made a comprehensive list of people who should be accessible and whose contribution to humanity are so minute that they are worth feeding to me. After all, the part of my brain that is just making me move around is still more intelligent than everything they have. "Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"You know I won't feed you anyone I know personally right?" he asked.

"Not even Wolowitz! For Pete's sake the man went to space and mostly just cleaned galaxy toilets," Sheldon said shaking his head. "No matter I do not wish to discuss this further I am in the middle of a project."

"What are you doing?" he asked, "There is nothing on the white board so it can't be work."

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "I do not wish to have my personal life invaded upon by you. Especially since you have proven yourself time and time again to be a blabby pants."

"Are you doing something that would upset someone I know?" Leonard asked. "Or blow up the Earth?"

"Nonsense," said Sheldon, "I gave up destroying others once that death ray failed to work. It was a thoroughly disappointing day. What I am doing is logical. It's just that a lot of people aren't as logical as me and therefore cannot be included."

"Is it something that you don't want me to tell Penny about?" asked Leonard. Sheldon turned his chair around so he faced him.

"Leonard," he said, "If I've deemed something not for your knowledge why would inquiring about the reason as to why make me tell you more?"

"Because," said Leonard, "If you tell me I may decide to not be blabby pants and if you don't tell me I'm going to tell Penny that you're doing something weird. She will then come over here and scare you and force you to tell. In this case both Penny and I know and if Penny knows Amy knows. So since the only personal things you ever do that are secret involve her lately. Why don't you tell me?" Sheldon sighed.

"Oh drat," he said, "Well it's not a big deal but no I do not want Amy to know."

"Are you googling how to accomplish that someday thing you told Penny and I was possibility?" Leonard asked with a smile.

"Don't be vulgar Leonard," said Sheldon shaking his head, "It is nothing so bad as that. It's nothing. I just am currently logged into Amy's dating account on the site we met and I am going through her profile." Leonard spit out the water he was drinking.

"What the hell are you doing that for?" he asked, "Sheldon that is a major invasion of privacy. How did you even get in there?"

"I took a chance that her password and username were the same as her email. They were. I will have to talk to her about her password and username security at a later date," he said. "And it's not a major invasion of privacy. I am merely reading the profile that she responded to."

"Sheldon you are in violation of the routine check clause of your own agreement. You are using a password for something other than routine maintenance," said Leonard. "Why don't you go under your own name to do that anyway? You could read hers it matched you."

"I didn't create the profile remember," said Sheldon, "Wolowitz did. I can't ask him for the password because it will be a disaster even I don't explain. He'll tell Bernadette that I asked for it. Who will then tell Amy and then I have to buy another Tiara. They don't work as well the second time I'm told. They are even bigger blabber mouths than you."

"Why do you need to look at Amy's profile?" Leonard asked ignoring the rest of the speech.

"Amy and I have been having issues of later. She is being more demanding of physical affection. This is difficult for me. I thought if I read her profile I could find something else she likes that would be easier for me to provide. I also thought if I read my profile, I could see what the two chuckleheads messed up in their description of me and see what misconceptions Amy may have consciously or not," he said.

"Well," said Leonard shrugging, "That's not that much of an invasion of privacy. It is well meaning. I suppose if you log out and only do it once. No harm is done."

"Good," said Sheldon, "If that pacifies you wonderful for us both. You may just want to turn the TV up a little bit for the next 20 minutes."

"Why?" asked Leonard.

"No reason," he said, "I think I'll take my lap top in my room now."

"Sheldon!" Leonard shouted.

"Alright alright nosey Rosie!" he shouted putting the computer back down, "I'm going to listen to a video message left for Amy by a potential suitor."

"Why?" he asked.

"Well I have to know something about him to write a proper rejection," Sheldon said giving him an impatient look.

"Why would you be writing a rejection? Oh Lord this has gotten into ball pit territory of crazy," said Leonard looking up to the sky for strength.

"Simple," said Sheldon, "The computer has only matched Amy with a very small amount of people. She said so herself today at lunch. The formula the computer uses must be written by someone relatively competent. We will a good match. This is surprising since his degree has to be in some study of human behavior. Amy has been questioning of our relationship lately. Matches on here are then given the option of contacting. Amy again said this was the first one since we met. If I respond to the email and reject him, I will thereby buy me more time to try and figure out this touching thing. It is a perfectly logical thing to do. In other words, one less place for her to go."

"But what if Amy finds out you're rejecting men for her on her profile," asked Leonard. "Besides Sheldon you don't keep a woman by eliminating competition. You do it by being the best man for her."

"She won't find out first of all. Second of all if that was true than you and Penny would not still be together," said Sheldon still impatient with his lack of thought process. "She never goes on here. She said so herself today. She offered to delete the thing. She said she only kept it out of social convention of couples keeping their profiles active and not using them till such time they choose to terminate them together."

"But if the plan is no other men being brought to her attention," said Leonard, "Why not just have her delete it."

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "What I said earlier was true. I am on here to see if I can please Amy. If I read what other matches have to offer and their messages to her. I can gain insight on more things that she likes and what may please Amy. This way I stay out of trouble without actually having to listen to her talk or do other such work as that."

"Buddy" said Leonard throwing up his hands, "You cannot just go into Amy's dating profile and do whatever you want. It's not yours."

"Amy's mine," he replied, "The relationship agreement is to insure that. If I have a relationship agreement with her and her dating profile is about relationships. I am entitled to that as well. I could make that stand up with my lawyer."

"How am I supposed to keep this quiet from Amy let alone Penny!" Leonard said speaking to the air in the room.

"Might I suggest," said Sheldon, "A rather interesting expression I found while looking through the profiles of random men on here for amusement. It is a little crass for my taste. But I believe it goes "bros before ladies of less than perfect virtue." Leonard just covered his eyes and sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ok," said Leonard taking a deep breath. "Sheldon, I will attempt to keep this secret from Penny if you let me read the message from the match with you and at least look at what your writing back to make sure it's not too crazy. I mean in this modern era they can trace messages and I do not want you going to jail." Sheldon considered the proposal.

"Agreed," he said. "But I warn you. He sent a recorded video message. This could be duller than watching Star Trek the motion picture."

"Fine," his roommate said. "Just play it and let's get this over with." A man with long dark hair pulled back into a pony tail and happy green eyes appeared on the screen. He had thick glasses but was otherwise built stronger and more toned than any of the boys could have ever hoped to be. He looked really nervous in the opening shot. Sheldon hit play and they waited for it to buffer.

"Hi Amy," said the man on the screen. His mouth broke up on the first phrase but Sheldon was surprised because the way the gentlemen greeted her it seemed less formal then you would greet someone you were speaking to for the first time. "It's Mark. Yes it's Mark from work. I had no idea that you would be on a dating site that doesn't really seem to suit you. But I'm really glad because it tells me two things. It tells me that the rumor I sometimes hear that you have a boyfriend isn't really true or you wouldn't still have an active dating profile. I figured it had to be wrong because I only have ever seen that one strange guy in your lab every once and a while and on your last birthday no flowers showed up and I had to buy you lunch. I never ask you though. I know you decline to discuss things personal when involved in your work. So I have always kept my comments to Ricky and our continued work on addiction. Second, it gives me an outlet that you clearly find acceptable by your presence here to tell you I have always wanted to ask you for dinner. Though you do not wish to discuss personal matters, I have always heard classical music in the afternoons when you are sometimes working on an individual project. This site says that you play the harp. I am a concert level pianist and I think we could share that. You are one of the most brilliant scientists in the world and it's wonderful to see publications in our field starting to recognize it. I have never dated at work because I would worry about the drama but I know you're too good a person to ruin life at work for me if it didn't work out. I want you to know you can trust me to do the same. Anyway, if I don't hear back from you I'll never bring it up at work. Just know that the offer stands. Bye." As the message ended, Sheldon looked at Leonard with a panicked face.

"I can't reject this man on Amy's behalf!" he shouted putting his hands on his face. Leonard felt relieved.

"Good for your Sheldon. You are right. This guy bore his heart to Amy and you cannot just spit some form letter written by you back in his face. You should tell Amy about the message and let her talk to him at work. In a way it may be good you opened it because it is probably better he get addressed. He cares a lot about Amy," he said.

"Leonard have you lost your mind!" he shouted. "I can't reject this man via email because it is not enough. He will leave it as a standing offer no matter what I say. He likes Amy. He speaks of her the way that I if I had time for that hippie nonsense would speak of her. He is there every day with her. They share the same passion. This requires more direct action that an email." He started to stomp towards his bedroom.

"What do you mean more drastic action?" Leonard shouted after him. Sheldon reappeared briefly at the end of hallway.

"Well he clearly cannot work around Amy Farrah Fowler anymore!" he replied. "Now stop asking stupid questions and be a friend and start thinking of something. Amy loves piano." He turned and disappeared down the hallway. Leonard rubbed his temple.

"Alright buddy," he said. He glanced at his watch. Penny would be home in an hour. "I'm telling Penny and you can learn the less rhyming but still valid sex before crazy rule."

"There is a perfectly sane non-wackadoodle sitting at Amy's work who wants to take her out for a nice dinner and you want me to help Sheldon?" Penny asked looking down at Leonard as he sat on the couch in her apartment.

"Yes I do," he said trying to calm down his girlfriend who was giving him a very impatient look. "Sheldon is a terrible person on a surface level. I get it. But if you stop and think about this which I did for the last hour. Sheldon is doing this because he is insecure. If you go tell Amy now she may very well dump him over this and go out with this other guy."

"Oh sweetie you give her way to much credit," she said sitting next to him and patting his hand.

"He invaded her privacy. He specifically told her to keep her profile so he could invade her privacy. He opened a private correspondence. He was planning on rejecting that and any other men's correspondence in an attempt to control her. He now is going to try and ruin her relationship with a colleague she clearly has a strong professional relationship because he sees her as a crazy female with primal urges. That's a bit much even for Amy. I don't think beating up Will Wheaton, a tiara, or an emergency contact form is going to fix that," Leonard said.

"I do not know why this is so shocking to Sheldon. Men have been interested in Amy before. She went out with Stuart," said Penny.

"Come on Penny," her boyfriend replied, "That was Stuart. Sheldon is better than Stuart. I mean that's probably the only guy he's better than but he is."

"Well he is better than more than just that. But that's the only guy that Amy is going to go out with that he's better than. Remember we forget that while she's not as bad as she used to be, Amy is not going to go out with just any guy. She likes people on her intellectual level. This guy clearly is though," Penny said.

"Yeah and he's attractive among our people. I mean not as attractive as the guy you were going to be a way cool scientist for but attractive," said Leonard giving his girlfriend a playful smile. She swatted him on the arm and went back to thinking about their issue.

"So what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Don't tell Amy right away. Help me with Sheldon. Get him to tell Amy. And help me calm him down. Nothing can go wrong between him and Amy. My life will be miserable," he said.

"Ok so what makes you sure he's going to do something bad enough that she would dump him. I mean Sheldon is crazy but he is harmless and Amy lets him get away with everything," she said.

"Last I saw," he said. "He was looking on the lab's website for Mark's last name so he could write a resignation letter for him and drop it through the head of the department's mail box."

"Alright alright," she said. "I'm thinking. It would be easiest to just let me tell Amy."

"I really believe as frustrated as she is with him lately that this could set her over the edge. She may even want to go out with Mark. I wouldn't blame her," he said.

"Yeah and in the long wrong they will both be miserable," she said.


	4. Chapter 4

"You know Penny," said Sheldon following behind her and Leonard into a store front the next day. "Bribery is the refuge of the desperate." Penny looked at her boyfriend before turning on the man behind him.

"Yes it is," she said, "And your presence here is your bribery of me to keep quiet about your little adventures in online dating."

"I should not have to bribe you should I have more loyal friends," he said crossing his arms and looking at Leonard.

"You want more loyal friends," said Sheldon looking around the flower shop, "Get a different personality."

"The only way I'm keeping quiet is if you let me help you make sure that Mark never gets anywhere near dating Amy by being sweet not by being devious and criminal," Penny said pointing further into the store, "Now let's go look at flowers."

"First of all, it is not criminal to quit a position. It may be unorthodox if the source of your resignation is someone you've never spoken with before. However it does happen," said Sheldon walking further into the store. "Second of all, I do not understand what the female obsession with flowers is. They die. Amy is a scientist that deals with life. Surely she'll know that as much as anyone."

"Flowers are not meant to last and in this case they aren't even necessary for Amy. Flowers are a public display in a woman's home or office that says that she is taken. Men do it to show affection and to show the world that this lady has a man in her life. Once a month Leonard used to send it to the cheesecake factory usually around the time that new hires would start, come to think of it he hasn't done that lately," she said happily. She turned around and hugged her boyfriend. "Sweetie," she said happily, "You're finally feeling secure and believing in our relationship and not always ready to freak out." Leonard nodded.

"Yes," he said, "I guess I am." Penny smiled and kissed him.

"That's great. Now start sending me flowers to celebrate that," she said patting him on the shoulder and turning back to Sheldon.

"Why do I not simply visit Mark's office and tell him that Amy is mine and to no longer contact her?" he asked.

"Because that will reveal you hacked into her account and also potentially get her fired from a job she loves. It will also probably result in you being fired from as you call it 'pair bonding,'" she explained.

"Drat," said Sheldon turning back around to the visit the flowers. "Alright," he said "Let's pick something out. Then what do I do?"

"You take them to Amy and go have lunch with her. That's why we are doing this on your lunch break from work. We told the university that you may be late back from lunch and from all the cheering we really don't anticipate it being a problem," Leonard explained. Sheldon sighed. Why didn't he just finish his routine check without doing an email clean out? He then lectured himself silently. That would have just been irresponsible. That would have been something for Amy to terminate their relationship over.

Amy happily looked for the tumor in the brain she was examining. She really enjoyed looking into the mind of someone else. She laughed a little to herself at her mind's own joke. She then glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost lunch time. She put her brain back in the refrigerator and removed her gloves. She began to wash her hands and she thought of the good vegetable soup that was in her lunch pail from last night.

"Dr. Fowler," a voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Dr. Mark Davis from her department. She always liked seeing Mark. He was always so friendly and professional and he was the only one to seem to have the same affection for the animals they experimented on as she did. It was nice to know someone else who thought of them as living creatures. She imagined since they were doing pretty awful things to them sometimes that the other scientists needed to separate themselves. But they were serving man in research to cure diseases and Amy just couldn't see not treating them with honor for that.

"Hello Dr. Davis," she said happily, "What can I do for you? We are not supposed to be doing our next team session with the animals for another few days. I'm finishing some individual research for a paper I'm doing. I hope there's nothing too pressing that would take me away from it." Dr. Davis froze a little on the spot. He didn't know if this speech was meant to let him know that she had read the message and wasn't interested or that she hadn't and was just into her work as always. He really liked that about her. The way she smiled and greeted him like a school girl made him think the later. Amy was a kind person and he just didn't think she could be so giddy while giving him a subtle rejection message.

"Oh I know," he said fighting the urge to just ask, "I am in the middle of research myself. I am working on a study of a new medicine to fight Alzheimer's disease. I am writing an interesting paper on it. I doubt it will be published as prestigiously as you but I am proud of my work." Amy felt like maybe her greeting had been too closed off as he felt the need to undermine the importance of his own time.

"Oh no," she said, "Research to help cure that disease is of the upmost importance and I know your last study provided that the one new medication almost ready for market was not safe for humans and saved a lot of people medical issues. I know they didn't publish your work because we didn't want to embarrass the drug company that paid us for the research. I guess I can't blame them they did do the right thing and pay for one more expensive trial before just releasing it. Still it's a shame that no one got to see your work." Amy almost couldn't believe the tone she was using. For some reason despite herself, it always made her sad to see Mark upset. He was always so nice to her. She wanted her friends to meet some of the people she worked with and she decided then and there that Mark should be the first. She would start thinking of an occasion to invite him too. Sheldon would like his easy going nature and admire his mind. He was the perfect candidate to try and prove she had a social life outside of the group.

"Thank you very much Dr. Fowler," he said looking down and trying not to blush, "I appreciate the kindness. I just came down to see if you wanted to go get some lunch. I haven't gone out for lunch in a long time and I wanted to and you look stupid in a restaurant eating alone." Amy was just about to answer when Sheldon came strolling into the lab carrying a dozen white roses. He recognized the gentlemen from the video message and froze on the spot. Mark regarded the man holding flowers and he too was in shock. Amy looked at the flowers and almost felt like laughing. It pleased her to see flowers that could only be for her but Sheldon just didn't look right standing there holding them. He looked like a little kid who someone was using as a messenger between family members.

"Sheldon what a pleasant surprise," said Amy, "Dr. Davis this is my boyfriend Dr. Sheldon Cooper he's a physicist at the University of California." Sheldon didn't know what to say. How to use this situation to intimidate the man was totally foreign to him. Yet he knew this was the perfect scenario in as Penny put it the process of "staking territory."

"I am Dr. Davis," said Mark extending his hand to him, "I work her at the lab with Dr. Fowler." Sheldon looked at the hand.

"I don't touch people I don't know," said Sheldon. Mark stepped back and the shock and horror of realizing that the lady he had been pinning over had a boyfriend wore off and his senses came back to him. This man did not look like he could be anyone's boyfriend. Dr. Fowler could be curt and cold but she had a fun nature and he couldn't find a single bit of one in the stance of the man before him. Plus he seemed to have a fear of touching people. How could someone with a fear of touching people have a girlfriend?

"Sheldon," said Amy frustrated. She went over and took the flowers from him in an irritated manner. He was embarrassing her in front of a colleague. She loved Sheldon for Sheldon but couldn't he just once find a nice way to tell someone he didn't want to shake hands. When Amy took the flowers frustrated from Sheldon both Mark and her boyfriend took notice.

"We were just about ready to go to lunch Sheldon," said Amy now regretting a little bit not taking the flowers a little nicer. They were beautiful and this was the first time in her life she'd had gotten flowers. "Thank you for the flowers Sheldon," she said trying to melt a little of the ice of her earlier action. "They are beautiful. I have never had flowers before." Sheldon wished Amy hadn't said that. He thought they were ridiculous but he knew social convention and he knew for a woman in a strong relationship to just for the first time receiving flowers was not normal.

"Who is we?" he asked, "I brought you flowers so that you could accompany me to lunch."

"Sheldon," said Amy happily, "You never take lunch outside of the university. That is such a nice surprise. Mark, do you mind if we have lunch together tomorrow?" Mark decided to take the high road but had noted that this was the first time she had received flowers. He felt a glimmer of hope that perhaps their relationship was pretty new and she would grow tired of what seemed like an odd duck quickly. It did explain why he had no message from her. She hadn't looked it. That much he was sure of. Amy was a loyal person. He knew that just from working with her.

"Sure," he said, "I don't want to interrupt what was clearly a nice surprise. We will go tomorrow then?" he asked. Amy nodded. Sheldon grimaced. What was the point of this exercise if she was just going to spend time with him tomorrow? Weren't the flowers supposed to make him go away? "By the way," Mark asked, "How long have the two of your been dating?" Sheldon didn't hide his grimace at the other man this time.

"3 years," said Amy. Mark was taken back a minute. Three years and he had never shown up for a birthday. He didn't come to the ceremony where the lab honored Amy for her work last year. This was the first flowers she had ever gotten. Mark was a good man and he would never take a girl from a man he deemed treating her right. But Amy had to deserve better. What prompted these flowers anyway after three years? From the way that Sheldon Cooper was looking at him right now. It made him suspicious.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sheldon," Amy began as they sat eating at his favorite Chinese restaurant, "May I ask what prompted you to bring me flowers and take me to lunch. This is far outside of the parameters of our agreement and as such is not expected. I especially know that this is indeed taking you away from important work. It would be less surprising to me if it was outside your work hours." Sheldon did his best to smile pretending he wasn't still thinking of the scientist he encountered today.

"Well I just decided that my research needed a break," he lied at least happy that his order of dumplings would divide equally. If he had to have the issue that he had when Wolowitz meant that country harlot his day would go from tedious and bothersome to outright anarchy. Amy arched an eyebrow at her boyfriend knowing he was lying.

"A break?" she said, "Sheldon are you in trouble with the human resources lady again. I told you no matter what I wasn't going in there to speak on your behalf again. Emergency contact does not require me to make it that you can ignore social conventions without consequences!" Sheldon shook off his thoughts and read from her tone that she was getting upset. It was time to put aside silly lies and instead tell more convincing and well thought out ones.

"Amy," he said simply, "Thinking of the dating site the other day made me realize that despite the fact that I feel that you and are the ideal pair bonding there are in fact other people that you could have made your contractual obligations to. To remind you that this is one that benefits both parties and that I intend to try to make it so it always does, I consulted Penny for a traditional showing of affection. Flowers and a spontaneous lunch was the suggestion. Here we are." Amy read his face and found a great deal of sincerity in what he said. Sheldon was able to pull off the lie convincible since it was not entirely untrue. The website had made him feel the need to appreciate Amy. She was just missing part of the motivation. She smiled and gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek that he did not react to at all. That was all together normal.

"Very well Sheldon," she said, "I will accept your romantic gesture and enjoy it as it was intended. Thank you. This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." Sheldon smiled sincerely. Take that Mark.

"Sheldon," she continued, "I have a proposal for you. Considering your constant complaint about the strength of our dinner conversations in the apartment, I think maybe some new blood into the group could be in order. I am friends with that scientist you met today and I am thinking of asking him to join us for the movies, dinner, or another such social event in the group. His intelligence will add to the conversation and it will allow me to introduce you to some of my social group as you have introduced me to yours. It will mean that I am contributing to the circle that we as a couple frequent." Sheldon thought he was going to start twitching right there. There was no way that Mark could become part of the group. Especially considering his romantic feelings he could easily misinterpret Amy's invitation to socialize outside of work. Of course, he couldn't say that.

"Amy," he said trying to find his words, "I am going to have to decline that suggestion."

"And why is that?" she asked sounding hurt. "You always say that Wolowitz brings down our group with his lack of PHD. Mark has a PHD. He could elevate our group in the way that you are always striving for. Also it will let everyone know that I have a life outside of the group. Everyone else does."

"I do not," said Sheldon proudly crossing his arms.

"Everyone has one that wants one," Amy replied quickly.

"Amy," said Sheldon finally finding a good explanation and smiling with satisfaction, "I may come to really like Mark since he is on our intellectual level. I can only have so many friends. If I made friends with Mark I would have to let one of my current ones go. To be honest with you, Penny would be on the chopping block given her limited education and would you want me to stop being friends with your 'bestie'?" he asked. Amy made a face.

"Why can you have only so many friends? You added me as a friend without subtracting one?" she asked. Sheldon stopped. It was only then that Sheldon realized that in his excitement of the wonder that was Amy Farrah Fowler, he exceeded his friendship quota. That woman was a vixen. No wonder his life was such a mess. She always was throwing him off.

"That was different," he said, "You were too special to exclude?" He tried his best to smile a "charming" smile but it just looked goofy.

"Well why would it be Penny anyway, I thought that it would be Howard or Raj. You constantly make comments about how Raj's alcoholism annoys you and Howard's lack of education. To kick Penny out would mean avoiding your roommate's girlfriend, I hardly think that works." Sheldon was getting frustrated but showed nothing on his face. Darn her and her intelligence.

"All the more point," he said, "It is not feasible for me to really let anyone go. Therefore, you cannot bring Mark to a social gathering."

"Well does he have to be a friend?" she asked, "You could just see him as an acquaintance as you do Stewart." Ironic, he thought that she chooses the only other boy who had showed interest in her since he'd known her as the example.

"I do not have acquaintances unless I have to Amy," he said, "You know that." Amy was finally tired of the conversation and gave in to him.

"Fine," she said, "I will just have to spend time with Mark outside of work on my own. I would like to have had you share in a new friendship that I am going to try and make. But apparently, that is not within our agreement."

"By yourself?" Sheldon asked, "When will you do that? The social requirements of the group take up a great deal of your time." He was going to have visible panic if he wasn't careful.

"I have plenty of time to myself still," she said. "In fact that Thursdays that do not fall on date night are usually open as Penny typically works Thursday night and Bernadette and Howard often eat with his mother." Sheldon went to open his mouth several times but found nothing. He certainly could not tell her that she couldn't spend time with him on her own without causing major conflict. Amy was dutiful but he knew there was a clear line. Changing his mind at this point would arouse suspicion. So he had no retort. In his effort to keep Mark out of Amy's life, he had made certain they would be spending time alone together. Even if he increased date nights, she would find a time. He should have asked Leonard and Penny to join them.


	6. Chapter 6

"Let me get this straight," said Penny calmly stirring the spaghetti sauce with hotdogs she was preparing for herself, Sheldon, and Leonard in the boys' apartment that evening. "You were supposed to go in there and sweep her off her feet and take her to lunch making your problem with Mark none existent. Instead you made Mark more interesting to her by refusing to allow him to enter our group. You refused to do one of the few things she's asked you to do as her boyfriend since starting this relationship and created a situation where when she's not on a date with you she will be with him?" Sheldon was not one to admit defeat but when it was all spelled out for him like that there was nothing to do but stick his head in his hands.

"That is the summation yes," he said nodding. "What else was to happen though? I could not let some charlatan infiltrate our circle and have full access to Amy."

"Actually Sheldon," said Leonard almost feeling bad for pointing this out, "But he would have been less likely to take Amy away from you if you had befriended him. If he's decent at all he wouldn't be able to steal a girl from a man he was friends with no matter how much he liked her. I reference all be it unhappily the 'Bernadette oh Bernadette won't you play my clarinet' incident for example." Penny crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. Sheldon looked up at them both alarmed.

"Wait," he said, "So I past up the best opportunity to end this without having to confess to Amy?"

"Afraid so," said Penny, "Now when she spends time with him alone and has to make excuses as to why he can't come around her friends, he'll infer it's you. Which in his defense it is you. From that he will further infer that you are an overly controlling boyfriend that he is rescuing her from. Which to be fair…" Leonard put up his hand and cut her off.

"I believe he gets the point Penny," he said firmly. She sighed and went back to her cooking.

"I can't take it back now," said Sheldon looking at Leonard, "She will know it's because she said she will spend time with him alone and she'll question me. I can only lie so much I'm not good at it."

"This is why we don't go snooping through our girlfriend's things," Penny scolded using the spoon as an instrument of emphasis.

"So what's the plan," Sheldon asked them both.

"We don't really have a plan," said Leonard going over to start cutting the Italian bread up.

"This isn't our relationship to fix."

"Yes it is," said Sheldon standing up, "You were the ones who encouraged me to start dating. This is your fault."

"No we're not," said Leonard shaking his head, "Howard and Raj pushed you into this. I don't do anything that alters your life. You are crazy enough in a regular state."

"I didn't even know you went through puberty until Amy showed up in your life," said Penny spooning food onto plates. As Sheldon was trying to find an argument to force their involvement, Penny's phone buzzed with a text message.

"Well," said Penny reading her message, "Amy has decided that since she can't introduce her work friend to the whole gang that she is going to at least introduce him to me. She asked if I could come by and do lunch with her and a co-worker on my day off tomorrow." Sheldon was elated. Penny could go and keep an eye on Amy.

"Can you go and have lunch with a co-worker on your day? Please Penny," he begged. She sighed.

"I was going to go get a manicure but why pamper myself when instead I can make it so you don't need to come clean for something horrible you've done," she said putting the food out around the couch.

"So you'll go?" he asked sitting down in his spot.

"For Amy," she said, "Because it will make her happy. For Leonard, because you will make him miserable if you are on unhappy, I will go. It is not for you though."

"Agreed," said Sheldon digging in. "Where are you going." Penny put up a finger.

"One of the rules of me helping is you don't get to know any details. You didn't want to be a part of interacting with Mark. You are not," she said.

Penny walked into Amy's lab at 1:00pm the next day knowing exactly what to expect. She didn't mind helping Sheldon feel more secure but Amy wasn't going anywhere. She loves Sheldon. She didn't get why she loves Sheldon and thinking about it made her want to seek medical attention for Amy, but she did. There was no way that some neurobiologist who was likely every bit the geek that Sheldon was is going to change that. Amy was standing there finishing some paper work. She smiled and immediately removed her gloves and lab coat.

"Hi bestie," she said, "Thanks for agreeing to this. I wanted to introduce one of my friends at work to one of my friends in my social circle. The action shows how much I'm growing in human behavior." Penny smiled the smile she always gave Amy when she was talking a little crazy.

"I'm happy to come," she said, "You said you were paying and I never turn down a free lunch." Amy nodded. "Just let me go down and tell Mark that we are ready to go."

"That won't be necessary," said a man's voice from the doorway, "I'm here and ready to go. This must be your friend Penny. I'm pleased to meet you I'm Dr. Mark Davis." Penny turned to face the new person and stopped dead in her tracks as she went to offer her hand. Standing before her was a scientist nearly as handsome as the married bastard one she had fallen for when she and Leonard weren't dating. Penny had met lots of guys this handsome and indeed dated much more handsome but she wasn't ready for the rival for Amy's affections to look like this. She gathered herself quickly.

"Hello Dr. Davis," she said. "Yes I'm Penny. I've been a friend of Amy's for years and I'm happy to meet you."

"I'm happy to meet a friend of Dr. Fowler's. She tells me you are an actress that must be very exciting and rewarding. You certainly look the part," he said shaking her hand and smiling. Penny beamed at Amy. God bless Amy. She never would tell anyone she was just a waitress. Amy was very supportive of her career and as far as she was concerned she was an actress. Amy really was a unique blend of 'saint and squirrel' as Sheldon described her.

"Well shall we go to lunch then," said Amy, "I appreciate you joining us Dr. Davis. I consider you a friend and I wanted to show you that and make up for the lunch we missed together yesterday. By introducing you to someone important to me I hope it shows I value our relationship." Penny couldn't help but notice that Mark's face light up that Amy wanted to show him that she cared beyond work. It was the way that Leonard would light up when she entered a room. She couldn't help but realize that Sheldon never light up for Amy like that. He truly cared for Amy. But the absolute loving light up that Dr. Davis was giving right now was not in Dr. Cooper's DNA.

"It is a wonderful gesture Dr. Fowler," he said. "But you need not make up for going out with your boyfriend. After all he rarely comes and sees you for a romantic gesture like that. It is best to appreciate it where you can get it." Penny raised an eyebrow. Amy was too naïve to pick up on a jab to Sheldon's character but she wasn't. She didn't much appreciate it either. For all his faults, Penny had become quite protective of the group's Dr. Wackadoodle.

"Sheldon works at the university," said Amy ushering them both towards the door, "He does very important work and is very busy. It would not be reasonable nor good for the scientific community if he frequently did impromptu lunch breaks with flowers. For me to expect as such would not be reasonable or practical." Penny smiled at Dr. Davis who said nothing a great deal of the light vanishing from his face. She didn't understand what Sheldon was so worried about. Amy not only loved him but got him. How much more secure could a relationship be than that?

They sat at the Thai restaurant that Sheldon hated. Penny could tell that despite her absolute affection for her boyfriend, Amy was practically giddy to be eating somewhere with friends that was not on his approved list of places.

"Lunch is on me today," said Mark smiling at Amy.

"That is very kind of you Dr. Davis," she said.

"Amy," said Mark trying to dismiss the formality, "You do not need to call me that."

"Ah," said Amy speaking as though she had only just realized that, "Of course, there is just a new person around and I want Penny to know that you are a brilliant PHD. The work you do is absolutely amazing and should always be recognized." Mark blushed and Penny picked it up but it skated over Amy's head.

"Dr. Fowler, a person like you saying something like that means more than any publication in a journal or award," he said warmly. Penny realized she was being ignored and decided to step in.

"So what kind of work do you do?" she asked leaning in trying to give her best "I care about science" expression. Amy proceeded to recant the work he had done protecting people's health against new prescription drugs that they had discussed earlier and she glowed with pride during the tale. Mark then spoke about the work he was doing on the study that Amy and him were working on together. As they spoke, Penny couldn't help but notice that they finished each other's sentences. If Amy wasn't so clearly without awareness that Mark could be interested in her in any way, Penny would have thought for a second maybe Sheldon did have something to worry about.

"Do you also know Dr. Cooper?" Mark asked unexpectedly. "I meant him the other day for the first time. Amy has done nothing but sing his praises since and he seems a remarkable man. Are you also familiar with him?"

"I meant Penny though Sheldon," said Amy happily, "She lives across the hall from him and dates his roommate."

"Yes," said Penny drawing up her best bragging voice, "My boyfriend is an experimental physicist at the University of California where he works with Dr. Cooper. Our other dear friend Bernadette is married to Howard Wolowitz an engineer from the university. He went to space. We are very proud of the men in our lives." Mark looked at Penny and realized that maybe she knew how he might feel about Amy. She was giving him a very protective and strong willed stare down.

"It sounds as though you are all a big family," he said.

"Yes we are," said Amy, "I've never had such good friends. That's why I wanted you to meet Penny."

"Well since you are a family and so important to Amy who I consider a friend, I would love to get to meet all of you. I am having a party at my home next week. I am inviting all of our colleagues from the university as well as some friends I have known for years. I would love to have all of you stop by. It is just a great party of educated people. I throw one once or twice a year to get to use the giant sized grill I bought. I absolutely love to grill," Mark suggested. Penny was about ready to accept for the group when Amy cut her off remembering Sheldon's words.

"No I'm sorry," she said, "I imagine the boys would be too busy. Sheldon doesn't really like social gatherings. It sounds lovely though. I do love a hamburger on the grill. Just the smell of meat cooking on the grill is said to set off sensors in the human brains that equate food on an open flame with survival."

"Surely to meet a friend of yours, your boyfriend would make an exception," said Mark innocently.

"Yes," said Penny interjecting and starting to not like Mark more and more. "I'm sure he would." Amy shook her head not taking the hint from Penny. After all, she had spoken to Sheldon about this and Penny hadn't.

"No," said Amy, "Sheldon doesn't make exceptions."

"Well," said Mark, "I think he should for you. But in any case, maybe you can just come." Amy grinned realizing that she was special enough to warrant an invitation all on her own. That never happened to her.

"Wonderful," she said. "Saturday of next week?"

"Yes," he said.

"Excellent," she replied.

"Amy," said Penny gently, "You can't go on Saturday of next week. Remember that is the day that train store is having a special seminar and you were going to drive Sheldon to it. He has been talking about it for weeks."

"Oh yes," said Amy frowning, "So it is. I'm sorry Mark I can't go to your party then. I have to drive Sheldon to that seminar or he'll be heartbroken and Leonard and Penny have plans that weekend."

"Is his car in the shop?" Mark asked shooting Penny an unhappy look that Penny returned. All of it was lost on Amy.

"No he doesn't drive," said Amy casually. Mark smirked despite himself. Controlling about whom they can hang out with and no driver's license. Yes there definitely was still hope. Penny frowned but was happy with Amy, she did her duty and chose her obligation to her boyfriend first. Amy loved Sheldon. She kept telling herself that in her head. It didn't matter if Mark was smart, gorgeous, and would be a very attentive boyfriend she could tell. She excused herself to the bathroom and texted Leonard. She said one thing. "Alright, maybe this isn't as easy as I thought it was to deal with."


	7. Chapter 7

Sheldon waited impatiently for Amy to answer her Skype. He had not gotten a chance to talk to Penny when she came home. She sighted that she was tired and wanted to just go and lie down. She simply put up her hand and said they would discuss the afternoon later. Course he did not have to wait for that. He had his usual seven o'clock Skype with Amy to get information. Amy's smiling face appeared on screen.

"How was your day?" he asked before she could even say hello. Amy gave him an odd look.

"Good evening to you too Sheldon," she said. "It was fine uneventful." Sheldon went to ask about the lunch and realized that technically he did not know about it. The text message was sent privately to Penny's phone and he had not spoken to her between the time it had been scheduled and now except through text and texts were strictly kept to old business by the relationship agreement. The only exception to that was very basic planning information they both needed to know. A lunch with a friend would not have meant that qualification.

"I was able to make some progress in the report I am preparing for the tenure board on my latest project to further assert my qualifications," he explained. They had not made that decision yet. They decided with so many qualified candidates that they should take a few months to allow opportunities for people to submit examples of work for consideration.

"I'm sure they will see their way to choosing you as the correct candidate," she said full of light and encouragement as always. "Are you going to be done with all the things on your to do list by Saturday afternoon then? I know you had said you had a lengthy one at the university this week." Sheldon was confused by the line of questioning but decided just to answer.

"Yes things are actually ahead of schedule," he said. Then a thought dawned on him that pleased him. "Does this mean you are finally showing proper enthusiasm for the train conference? I will be ready to spend the afternoon at that with you. "Amy nodded trying to show no expression.

"Very well," she said, "I was merely making sure that was still our plans." Sheldon was becoming impatient that she hadn't mentioned the lunch. Was she not going to mention it at all? She had lunch with another man. Granted it was lunch with another man and Penny but still he should be included. Finally it hit him.

"Penny had her day off today. Do you have any plans together for this evening? I know you sometimes enjoy those silly "girls nights" on these occasions," he said.

"Those usually occur the night before Penny's days off. This way it avoids her going to work with the horrors of a hangover. I can hide in my lab on those days and work on personal and quiet projects. She works with the public and does not have the luxury. So no," she said correcting his assumption.

"Will you see her at all today?" he asked. Amy looked at him wondering why so much time spent on Penny.

"Penny and I had lunch together today so there is no need," she said. Sheldon tried hard not to show the frustration on his face and excused himself to use the restroom. He entered the bathroom and banged his head against the wall. Why on Earth would she not say that she had lunch with Mark and Penny? Did something happen between the two of them at lunch? Surely Penny would not allow that. Maybe that's why Penny didn't want to discuss it with him before taking a nap to regroup. Jealously was literally pouring out of him and he was feeling the kind of rage he used to only feel for the neighbor kids when they would harass him at school. Finally he took a deep breath and composed himself. He could not let Amy see this. It would give away too much. Maybe Mark was so unimportant his girlfriend saw him as but a blip on her day with no purpose for mentioning. He collected himself and returned to the computer.

While he was gone Amy felt a little sad that she would not be able to attend Mark's party. She had managed to confirm with Sheldon that they were in fact going to the train store without revealing her lunch. She was hoping that Penny would not mention it. She had asked her not to when they got back to the lab. Sheldon was so against bringing Mark into the group she was sure he would see the lunch with Penny as her going around his wishes in a back handed way. Perhaps she was and that did make her feel badly. She wanted very much to have Mark around more often. He was always so sweet to her. He made her feel special and valued as a friend and he choose to be around her purely because he wanted to be not because she was dating someone he was already friendly with. As she thought on Penny and Bernadette whom she loved, she always knew on some level she was there with them because she was part of the family. Penny had even reemphasized that today. They were a group, a unit, and she got in it because she was linked. Her boyfriend was the center of her world but she often feared that all of them would go away would something go wrong. Sheldon was progressing slowly in many aspects of a relationship and she had worries. She couldn't deny that. When Sheldon returned she gave him her best warm smile.

"Are you feeling better now that your body is devoid of toxins?" she asked happily.

"Yes thank you," said Sheldon smiling back. They continued in normal and warm conversations. They were both hiding something important from the other.

An hour later Sheldon was off of Skype with Amy and doing his rhythmic knock on Penny's door. Leonard opened it and stood blocking the doorway.

"Sup," he said in his best tough guy tone. Sheldon looked at him startled.

"Have you been taken over by Pod people?" he asked. "Do I need to go get section L Alien invasions and swamp creatures?" Leonard sighed and lost his tough guy pose.

"Penny doesn't feel like talking to you about it tonight," Leonard said. "I was told to send you away."

"Send me away?" asked Sheldon, "She can't do that. She's working as my agent. She can't abandon her mission." Penny pushed Leonard aside and stood in front of Sheldon with her arms crossed.

"It was a perfectly normal lunch Sheldon," she said sounding very annoyed, "Amy and Mark talked about their work. She bragged about you. I bragged about you and all the boys. It was an innocent lunch between friends. Nothing of interest happened. Amy is loyal to you." She turned on her heels and went and sat down on the couch. Now Sheldon was very confused. The tone showed anger from what he understood of human behavior but the words weren't harsh. In fact, the news seemed good. This was incredibly hard to understand.

"I don't understand?" he asked. Penny sighed and looked up at him.

"Mark is a really nice guy. He is funny and attentive. He thinks that Amy is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But he has nothing on you in Amy's eyes. She refused an invitation to a really nice party with all of her colleagues at his house to which we are invited because you said you didn't want any more friends. She gave up the chance to go to that party so they she can be your chauffer to the train store this Saturday," she said rubbing her temples. Sheldon put the pieces together for that.

"She asked me whether we were still doing that tonight. If I had said no she would have gone to that party of his wouldn't she? Do you know that she didn't even tell me about having lunch with Mark? She is keeping things from me. That is not the foundation of a good relationship. Our relationship agreement clearly forbids that kind of fibbing," he said shaking his head.

"You hacked into her dating account and are holding a huge secret that you read one of the private messages meant just for her from a guy at work!" Leonard shouted at him, "That's a violation of the relationship agreement."

"Yes Leonard but we've long since established that the relationship agreement in spirit is really to serve me," he said quickly. Leonard threw up his hands.

"That's the problem Sheldon," said Penny coming to her feet, "Sweetie everything is meant to serve you." Sheldon just stared at her confused. Penny sighed and decided to drop it. Explaining to him what had her a little uneasy would have no future. "He is interested in Amy and he is trying to get her to pick him but I don't think it's going to happen."

"Well it doesn't matter," said Sheldon trying to convince himself more than anyone else. "Amy picked me this Saturday. Maybe I will go and take notes on the speakers that will be at the conference so I can be extra witty and interesting this weekend. Amy is in for a treat." He turned on his heels and walked out of the apartment closing the door behind him.

"You could have just told him that Mark made you think Penny. He could use to hear it," Leonard said after he left.

"What that Amy is my friend and the longer she's around I get more and more protective of her. She is weird and quirky and sometimes gives me unbelievably scary gifts. But she is a good person and a loyal friend and she puts up with as many stupid things from me as I do from her if you really think about it. And the truth is that if I wasn't friends with Sheldon and this incredibly attractive and clearly into her guy came along, I would probably be asking her to consider him. I mean when I was dating big jerks no one thought you were a terrible person for still pursing me. Course that might have been because you didn't exactly have any skill to do it," Penny said pouring herself a glass of wine.

"I had some skill," Leonard said unhappily. Penny gave him a look. "Alright skill would not perhaps be the word that people would use but persistence is an admirable word." Penny smiled and walked over and kissed her boyfriend. She loved him very much.

"Do you think if it comes down to it Sheldon will step up?" Penny asked.

"I don't know," said Leonard, "I'm not entirely sure that Amy will require him too."

"See that is what I'm afraid of," she said sighing.

The next day Leonard and Sheldon stood in the kitchen eating their breakfast before work when a frantic knock came to the door. Penny did not work that morning and they were not expecting anyone so it startled both men. Leonard rushed to the door and opened it. Amy came walking in sobbing. Sheldon was taken aback by her appearance and hesitated to approach her.

"I apologize for coming so early," Amy managed out, "But my grandmother passed away this morning and I'm on my way to work to get things in order to be gone for a few days. Sheldon I wanted to come by and tell you in person as per the relationship agreement that I will be cancelling out trip to the train store this Saturday. The funeral will likely be that day and I will not be returning home until early next week."

"But Amy it's only Wednesday. You will also be missing date night if you depart tonight. Do you have to go right now?" Sheldon asked really stumbling.

"Yes I do Sheldon," said Amy not affected by the slightly insensitive comment. "I need to be with my family. Will you go by and check on Ricky and feed him while I am gone." Sheldon nodded. He didn't know what to do. She was crying so hard between words. In this situation, Amy would hug him. He had cuddled her the last time she was upset but she wasn't showing such overwhelming emotions then. He opened up his arms and Amy went into them a little relived he made the effort.

"Well safe trip," he said releasing quickly. She nodded and turned and went to go out the door.

"Amy?" Leonard questioned. She turned. "Are you okay to be driving around? Your mother moved over an hour away to be closer to the home she put your grandmother in. That's a long ways to be driving in this state."

"I'm fine," she said. "I enjoy mother's new home and I have been there enough times even if I am upset. I will see you later Sheldon." With that she was gone. Leonard turned and looked at Sheldon.

"You should have offered to accompany her," he said simply.

"I have to work today," Sheldon responded.

"You have days saved up. You could have taken days. You have about 15 vacation days sitting waiting for the university to come up and force you to use. You could have offered to accompany her and support her throughout the process. She may have declined but you should have offered," his roommate explained to him.

"I am uncomfortable around new people and since I did not attend the birthday party for her grandmother in favor of a video game night, I have only met her mother. This was only once and to tell you the truth I don't know that she was thrilled with me," said Sheldon remembering Amy's mother's face when he talked about having coitus with her.

"You need to at least find out when the funeral is and see if you can make arrangements with Raj to drive you there. "You should be in attendance at the funeral."

"The funeral poses the same issue that accompanying her today did," Sheldon said. This had been an absolutely disastrous week. First the Mark thing and now Amy was upset and it broke his heart. Yet he was not equipped to really do anything to help it.

"Let's just go to work," said Leonard giving up. As they went to leave Penny entered the apartment in her pajamas.

"Amy's grandmother died," she said looking very upset, "She texted me this morning. Did you get that?"

"She came over," said Leonard. "She was a wreck please text her to tell you when she gets there and then let us know."

"Sheldon," Penny said unhappily, "Did you offer to go with her?" Sheldon threw up his hands.

"Will the two of you stay out of our relationship?" he demanded frustrated.

"You mean like not going on secret missions for you?" Penny asked crossing her arms. "Well Leonard I know you're going to be disappointed but before I came over here I called the bed and breakfast that we were going to this weekend and explained the situation. They said since it was for a funeral that we could move our deposit and reservations to my next weekend off in three weeks. We need to go to the funeral and be there for Amy." Leonard nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "We are her friends and that's the right thing to do." He turned and looked at Sheldon when he said it.

"Wait," Sheldon objected, "If you go I have to go!" Penny looked at Leonard who just put up a hand.

"Let's go to work Sheldon," he said, "Yes that's what it means."


	8. Chapter 8

Amy sorted through the paperwork that she needed to keep in order before she left. The tears poured down her face non-stop. She had loved her grandmother. She was the only one who had ever appreciated all she had to offer intellectually without diminishing because she didn't have a boyfriend. Now all that was left was her nagging mother and without her grandmother to buffer things it was going to be even harder to have to explain her relationship with Sheldon to the family. More than that she had just lost a very impressive woman and that broke her heart. She really was a mess. Leonard was probably right that she shouldn't be driving. But Sheldon couldn't drive and he would only have been a nervous wreck if her own driving had been erratic. That would only have made things worse. Leonard would have driven her she knew or Penny. But that was a lot to ask and she always felt bad asking for such big favors from them. After all, they always seemed like they just had to do that stuff because Sheldon couldn't. It really would have been his job had he been able to. Mark walked in to say good morning and was startled by her appearance.

"Amy," he said gently, "What's wrong?"

"My grandmother died," she said wiping her tears. His heart broke for her and his first thought was trying to help her.

"Why are you here then?" he asked. "You should be with your family."

"I will be," she said, "I'm leaving soon. I just need to put all the paperwork in order. I'll be gone till early next week. The funeral isn't till Saturday and I want to spend a few days at home after. I have days saved up." He nodded. He wanted to hug her but knew their relationship wasn't there yet. He could tell she was an absolute wreck. Her hands were shaking and she wasn't herself.

"How far are you traveling?" he asked feeling concern come over his mind.

"A couple hours," she said. "My mother moved closer to the home she chose for my grandmother a few years ago. It was a good choice. That home was the best one mother could find and she wanted to be close by to visit. My mother was very dedicated to my grandmother. She has a ton of faults but that is not one of them." She dropped the papers she had been holding when she went to move them. Her hands were really shaking. Mark thought maybe it was too much to ask.

"Amy," he said gently, "Do you think maybe I could drive you to where ever you are going. I would only be able to drive you and drop you off. In order for you to be out, I need to be here continuing our work and I don't want you to have to worry about anything while you're gone. But I'm sure they would let me go for a few hours to drive you if I worked a little later tonight. Please Amy. You are really not in any state for that long of a drive." Amy looked at him and was going to object but there was something in his eyes that was really pleading with her. She knew that sitting in the car and just relaxing on the way there would be much safer and better for her. Mark and she had just barely started their friendship outside of work so it seemed unusual that he would offer. Still, he was offering because he wanted to for her. He wasn't offering because he felt forced or because Sheldon wouldn't or couldn't. It was just because he wanted to. Ending up in a car accident because she didn't want to be a burden seemed silly. She could easily tell the lab she was leaving her car there and she could get family to drive her home. She found herself nodding her head.

"Okay," she said gently, "I suppose that will be alright." He nodded feeling relief wash over him.

"Alright then," he said, "You'll have to let me know when the funeral is. If I can come before the party and pay my respects I will."

"That isn't necessary," she said walking out of the lab.

"I will decide what is necessary," he said following behind her.

"If Amy gets in a car accident and dies it is your fault," Leonard said frustrated at lunch with Sheldon, Howard, and Raj. Sheldon looked down. He didn't know why Leonard was so worked up. He was the one who had not heard from Amy. Based on the amount of time she had left ago, she should be safely at her mother's house. He had facebooked her, twitted her, texted her, and as a last resort called her twice and she had not confirmed it. This was not like Amy and he felt absolutely terrible.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh Leonard," said Howard, "Sheldon is a mess. Look at him he hasn't blinked in twenty minutes."

"She is in a time of distress," said Raj, "I'm sure when she got there she was overwhelmed by family and forgot to text that she was there."

"He should have offered to go with her," said Leonard crossing his arms. He didn't know himself way he was feeling so protective of Amy lately. Perhaps it was what Penny had said or perhaps it was that Amy despite her own quirks made Sheldon a better person to be around and he had never really acknowledged her for that. He decided in his head he would work it into conversation the next time it was appropriate.

"Oh dear," said Sheldon looking at his phone.

"What?" Leonard asked.

"Well I've been waiting for Amy to respond to my messages on my phone all day. I thought sure she'd respond to something I had sent. I neglected to look in my email and I realize that I had a confirmation that Amy had arrived safely over two hours ago," said Sheldon smiling for the first time in a while.

"Really," said Howard, "You didn't bother to check your email."

"Amy always responds to my electronic communications. Why would she ignore me if she knew I was looking for her? It's obvious from them that I didn't get the email," he insisted.

"It is likely that she wrote the email and then put her phone down and went to be with her family. It is likely you will not hear much from her the next few days," Howard explained. "Oh God what will happen to the rest of us." He said dreading a return to the days where Amy wasn't taking the brunt of all that was Sheldon.

"Funerals make people crazy," said Sheldon shaking his head. "This is why we should not be attending."

"We are going," Leonard said in a firm voice, "Penny and Bernadette both want to go and support Amy. You are required to go and support Amy. She is your girlfriend and you will act like a boyfriend and go." Sheldon threw up his hands in frustration and crossed them like a little kid.

"Oh alright," he said, "This week is just awful."

"Why is it so awful?" Howard asked trying to figure out why he was bothering to show concern to a man who incapable of it.

"Leonard is meddling in my life. He and Penny seem to think that I'm a lousy boyfriend. Considering the track record of their relationship and the tiresome "will they won't they" dance we all had to endure I'm not sure why they are so mighty," said Sheldon frustrated and forgetting his current position with his roommate.

"Our relationship was not tiresome," said Leonard trying to show some patience for his friend though it was dwindling.

"It was too tiresome. I had to suffer you moping around because your issues with Penny caused you have a as Amy put it "hormone based stink of desperation," Sheldon continue unhappily, "So I thank you to keep your judgments to a minimum." Leonard lost his temper.

"Sheldon hacked into Amy's dating account and saw that a colleague of her who is both successful and attractive has a thing for Amy. He is now desperately trying to keep that from Amy while trying to keep this guy from showing her that he is probably a better boyfriend. Discuss," he said looking at Raj and Howard. Sheldon looked at him in quiet shock. Leonard was unphased. "Now try keeping it from Amy since Bernadette will know in a few hours."

"Try a few minutes," said Howard happily taking out his phone to compose a text, "I'm on it."

"Sheldon," said Raj, "That is not cool dude. That is a complete violation of the trust and respect that is supposed to exist in a relationship."

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "You do realize you still have to live with me correct?"

"If you kick me out over this Penny will be sympathetic and I can stay with her. It means extra standing up to a friend for a friend sex for me," said Leonard smiling.

"Bernadette says you should be ashamed of yourself," said Howard looking at his phone, "If you're interested. But you are safe for now because she doesn't want to upset Amy until after the funeral. So you get to live for a few more days."

"Penny hasn't told Amy at all," said Sheldon, "Tell Bernadette not to tell. If Penny can lie she can too."

"Penny likes you way more than Bernadette does," said Howard simply shrugging. Alex came walking into the cafeteria.

"Dr. Cooper," she said professionally, "Dr. Fowler left a message for on your office phone in response to your communications. She said she sent you an email and that she has arrived safety. A co-worker drove her to her mother's to make sure she wasn't in any danger. She knew you would feel better knowing that she hadn't been driving distressed. She said to Skype with her this evening at 8." She smiled at the other men lingering on Leonard and left.

"A co-worker drove her there," said Leonard still enjoying his roommate's distress. "I wonder who that was. Gee I wonder if that wouldn't have happened if someone had offered to go with her."

"Come on Leonard," said Howard gently, "Just because a better looking man than Sheldon is being a better boyfriend than Sheldon to his girlfriend doesn't mean that she's going to leave him. It just means that most people who knew the situation would probably be rooting for her to leave him." Sheldon sat there looking down. He had nothing to say. He just had a lot to think about.

Annie Marie Farrah-Fowler stood looking at her daughter sitting in the living room going through an old family album. It was the first time since she had found out that her mother had passed that she could even manage a smile. Amy was a good girl and the fact that she had rushed out to be by her mother's side right away even though the two of them didn't always see eye to eye was proof of that. She sat down next to her daughter and realized she was stopped on a page of her and her grandmother at Christmas. Amy was smiling at the chemistry set that her grandmother had bought her. The rest of the presents had been books and dolls. Annie wanted her daughter to have more of an emphasis on family that she had. Before she strictly became a professor for an online university, Annie had been a noted marine biologist. She absolutely loved her work but it took her from home a lot and it left Amy in the care of her husband and her mother. Her husband had been a chemistry professor and had passed after a few years prior to Amy meeting this new group of friends and then boyfriend. She always felt like she should have been a more traditional mom. This was why she always nagged Amy to find a man and to date like a normal young lady. She had met her husband by accident. He had been the best friend of the colleague she literally spent all of her time working with on her study of whales. Because she was forced to spend so much time at her colleague's house working she got to know him well and they fell in love. Still, she knew that Amy's resistance to the nagging came from her being like her parents. They were both very dedicated to their profession and only had one child later in life. She was nearly 68 years old and her daughter was just over thirty.

"She loved you very much," she said gently, "I'm sorry I haven't had much time to speak to you since you arrived I've been on the phone making arrangements the entire time."

"That is quite alright mother," she said, "I have been content conversing with cousin Jane and Molly. I only came in here after they left for the hotel for the evening. I would have slept on the floor if room was an issue. They could have stayed here with us."

"They wanted a hotel," said her mother gently, "This isn't a childhood house like the one I sold in Glendale. There just wasn't a home there that was good enough for your grandmother by my standards. Your father always loved San Diego. So it was the first place I could think of that I would want to live other than home. I looked around and found a great home in Paradise Village for grandmother. So here I am. I met you father in San Diego for the first time. His friend Michael and I were working on an assignment and he flew out to spend his birthday with him. The three of us had quite a time that night. Your father was a wonderful man and your grandmother just thought the universe of him."

"I am glad you are happy here mother. I am glad you found an online university to teach at," said Amy, "I can tell working with young people has renewed your spirit." Annie nodded.

"Your boyfriend could have come and stayed with us. He didn't have to just drop you off," her mother said, "I am over the conversation that we had on Skype. He is a very blunt young man but looking into his work at the University he is quite the achiever. I don't see how any mother could object her daughter dating such a brilliant man. I do wish he would come around more. I have never seen him except that conversation. You have never invited me to come out and stay and meet him. When you visit it is always here and without him."

"Do you really have to nag on a day like today?" her daughter asked exhausted. "Besides I have told you that Sheldon does not drive. That was a colleague that dropped me off not my boyfriend."

"Well," said Annie smiling, "That was nice of him. And you're right I shouldn't nag. In fact I came in here to tell you that I realize looking at these photos I should have been more like your grandmother. She always encouraged you and was proud that you were doing what you wanted to do. She never asked you do what you wished she would do." Amy looked up her mother's sad face.

"Mother," she said gently, "I hate your nagging and I make no secret of that. But, you only really required me to date once a year. You could have been worse." She nodded.

"Well we'll see your boyfriend at the funeral on Saturday. It will do me good to see him there bringing you comfort. You seem to have found a boy who is your match," she said hugging her daughter over the shoulder.

"Mother," said Amy looking down, "Sheldon doesn't really do well at family events and he is uneasy in social gathering. He barely can handle weddings. I doubt he will be at the funeral." Annie didn't have to tell Amy that wasn't particularly right. Her daughter knew it. It was often that her daughter spoke of her boyfriend and some of the things he wouldn't do. She always said words of defense or "that's just him" but Annie could always tell she didn't believe that. She was so happy that her daughter was at least with someone trying to be happy that she always let it go. But now she was thinking about her mother. Her mother who never nagged her to get a husband and was much more supportive of whatever she wanted to do than she was of her daughter. She thought about what she would say.

"Amy," she said gently, "Since your grandmother has passed today will you allow me to give you the one thing she told me that stuck with me my whole marriage to your father. It was a bit of a nag. But your grandmother was much better at it than I am." Her daughter looked at her confused. "Your father was a wonderful man. I loved him very much. Your grandmother loved him very much. But, in the beginning, he was very bad at remembering things that were important. He would just forget my birthday, he would forget our anniversary when we first got married, and he would forget to show up for family functions. It used to break my heart every time. I was flawed though. I didn't want to say anything because your father was the only man in the world for me. I loved him so much. Still, I was afraid that when we had children he would forget important things for you and that would not have been right. I complained to your grandmother all the time but I never said anything to him."

"That was the one thing about you mother," said Amy smiling at joy of remembering past times even if they were frustrating on her mother's face. "You were gone during the week a lot but every important day you were there. You were always there Christmas morning, our birthdays, and important recitals. We didn't get to see you as much as we wanted but you showed up when it counted."

"Well," said her mother continuing, "Your grandmother would have been ashamed of me and I would have been ashamed of me if I hadn't. But anyway on the thirtieth time complaining about it your grandmother said this to me. She said 'Sweetie just because a man is the only man for you doesn't mean you don't deserve him to be a great man for you.'"

"Mother," said Amy a lot of the joy fading.

"No," said Annie, "Your father and I were flawed but we were always a strong couple because when something wasn't right we said something and we fixed it because we loved each other. Unconditional love is important. But there are conditions in making a life together work. Just think about it okay. I'm going to go and get us some cake. I could use sugar today." Amy nodded and her mother left leaving her with things to think about.


End file.
